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Atalanta - Inter: Match-Preview

Tomorrow Inter will face their Nerazzurri brothers. The black and blue team from Bergamo is historically a scare for us. It was the game against Atalanta that really decided that we wouldnīt win the Scudetto the season 2001/02.

This season ought to be different, since Atalanta is a newcomer and Inter is in a situation where they really need the three points or the criticism will be overwhelming. Inter has thus far not won a single game, and find themselves in the lower side of the table. We will enter the pitch against a team who has fanatical fans and also enthusiastic young players.

I had the privilege of watching Atalanta this Sunday against Juventus. It was a highly mediocre Atalanta that stepped onto the field. Even though Toldo seems to disagree, but thatīs another subject. Atalanta play with a 4-2-3-1 formation. Do you recognise that one? Yes, itīs the same formation as Palermo played with. And itīs the same formation as Parma will play with on Sunday. So we have three games in a row against teams with the same formula. It would be ridiculously bad if we wouldnīt find a way of beating such a formula.

What separate Atalantaīs defensive formation from other normal teams who play a four-men defence is the way the run. Cesari Natali plays more or less as a libero, and he does it in a very poor way. I have usually been very impressed with him in previous seasons, but he has started this one off very badly. They have a much better player on the bench with the name of Luigi Sala who has always been one of my favourite defenders.
What Natali is doing wrong during matches, is that he wrecks Atalantaīs off-side trap. While the rest of the players move up themselves on the field, Natali follows the last striker all the time. In this way he doesnīt work as a libero, but as a man-marker. And heīs just too slow and misplaced to be able to beat that last striker. Who does that make our most important player for this game? Yes, Oba Martins. With his pace and constant movements, he would be a tremendous asset against Atalanta. He would open up spaces for the rest of the players, even though Martins can leave the field without a goal, he would be extremely important. Sadly, it seems as if Mancini hasnīt been doing his homework on this whatsoever, which is quite worrying. The starting duo seems to be Adriano-Vieri. Which would tactically be stupid against this team.

Atalantaīs offensive force is a bit more frightening. Against Juventus they were harmless. They use one top-striker and two behind that works as offensive midfielders. The top-striker is one of the brightest young talents in Serie A- Gianpaolo Pazzini. Against Juventus he did literally nothing, but this is a good striker. He doesnīt possess the major threat in the air, as what Luca Toni did. This gives us the chance of resting Materazzi for the game against Parma and Gilardino. Nicolas Burdisso should as far as I am concerned, do his Inter debut. Considering that Atalanta uses Montolivo and Gautieri behind Pazzini, a defensive duo of Cordoba and Burdisso is tactically the better choice. All these three Atalanta players are players that moves around a lot, especially Montolivo and Gautieri. We need versatile defenders that can cope with these movements, and thatīs where Materazzi has his weak points. Materazzi would face Gautieri a lot, which is no easy task. Iīm sure he can do it, but when we have Burdisso back in the team and a very important game against Parma this weekend, itīs time to give Materazzi his needed rest.

Iīve seen Montolivo play a couple of times, and he scares me. He and Albertini are more or less made for playing against Inter. The lack of concentration that we can display sometimes, is perfect for Montolivo and Albertini who does a lot of deep-through passes. Albertini also does a lot of long-balls, so we need to be careful in our defence.

We donīt face a team who is that impressive. There would be no excuses if we donīt win this game, and not even Mancini would be able to talk himself out of another game without a victory, with that we entertained the crowd. In general Inter fans care the most about results and the chance of winning something big, and there will be a limit of how much this attractive football will be the way of playing football. We need to start winning as well.